UNIVERSITY    OF    CALIFORNIA 

COLLEGE   OF    AGRICULTURE 

AGRICULTURAL    EXPERIMENT    STATION 

BERKELEY,  CALIFORNIA 

CIRCULAR  290 

June,  1925 

THE  TANGIER  PEA 

Lathyrus  tingitanus 
By  P.  B.  KENNEDY 


Courtesy  of  F.  G.  Cuthbertson. 

A  crop  of  Tangier  peas  in  full  blossom  at  the  Molera  Ranch  near  Castroville, 
Monterey  County,  California. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT  STATION 


INTRODUCTION 

The  following  statement  by  such  an  eminent  authority  on  economic 
plants  as  C.  V.  Piper1  of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture 
is  sufficient  encouragement  to  report  the  results  of  observations  and 
experiments  with  the  Tangier  pea  in  California. 

"It  has  given  the  largest  yields  of  green  matter  to  the  acre  of  any  annual 
legume  grown  in  California.  The  dense  growth  chokes  out  weeds  completely.  It 
is  a  good  green  manure  crop  but  the  seed  has  been  hard  to  get.  There  is  hope 
that  this  difficulty  may  be  overcome." 

Kecent  observations  and  experiments  show  that  large  yields  of 
seed  of  excellent  quality  can  be  grown  in  California. 

The  Tangier  pea  is  an  annual  indigenous  to  northern  Africa.  It 
has  long  been  known  in  European  gardens  as  an  ornamental  plant 
and  was  first  grown  and  recommended  as  a  winter  forage  plant  by 
Dr.  Trabut  of  Algeria.  The  earliest  record  I  can  find  of  its  intro- 
duction into  the  United  States  is  given  by  C.  R.  Ball2  in  1900. 

"Chieharaca  {Lathyrus  tingitanus  L.) — Plat  9-D-13  was  seeded  on  May  28 
with  seed  from  Algeria  (S.  P.  I.  No.  3289).  Only  a  thin  stand  was  secured,  but 
the  growth  was  very  rapid.  The  plants  were  unaffected  by  the  heat  and  drought 
and  reached  a  length  of  from  3  to  4  feet  by  the  end  of  the  season.  They  produced 
numerous  flowers  during  July,  but  no  seeds  set  and  the  pods  did  not  develop. 
On  November  15  the  plants  were  still  green  and  healthy  in  spite  of  several  severe 
frosts.  This  species  closely  resembles  the  bitter  flat  pea,  but  grew  much  larger. 
It  has  not  heretofore  been  cultivated  in  this  country.  It  was  introduced  from 
Algeria,  where  it  is  used  as  a  winter  forage,  and  is  said  to  be  free  from  the 
poisonous  properties  found  in  so  many  of  the  flat  peas.  It  is  cultivated  also  in 
the  Canary  Islands  and  Morocco,  and  is  said  to  be  hardy  in  southern  Prance 
where  exposed  to  a  temperature  of  26  degrees  F. " 

Since  the  time  of  this  first  trial  at  Washington,  D.  C,  numerous 
experiments  have  been  conducted  by  the  United  States  Department 
of  Agriculture  and  the  Agricultural  Experiment  Stations.  Necessary 
repeated  experiments  were  usually  prevented  because  of  the  loss  of 
the  seed  by  shattering.  The  Seed  and  Plant  Introduction  numbers  of 
Lathyrus  tingitanus  grown  by  the  California  Station  from  1900  to 
1905  were  5585,  7637,  and  21607.  One  lot  designated  50/01  E  1x3 
and  received  from  Vilmorin  and  Company,  Paris,  under  the  name 
L.  japonicus  proved  to  be  L.  tingitanus.  A  variety  with  one  flower 
on  the  peduncle,  L.  tingitanus  uni flora  (5/02  E  VII. 2)  has  also  been 
grown. 


i  Piper,  C.  V.,  and  Pieters,  A.  J.,  Green  manuring.  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Farmers ' 
Bull  1250:42,  1922. 

2  Ball,  C.  E.,  Grasses  and  Fodder  Plants  on  the  Potomac  Flats.  U.  S.  Dept. 
Agr.,  Div.  Agrost.,  Cir.  28:14,  1900. 


CiRC.  290] 


THE  TANGIER   PEA 


Courtesy  of  P.  A.  Ingvnson. 

Fig.  1. — Tangier  peas  grown  under  irrigation  as  a  green  manure  crop  on 
Giffen  Ranch  near  Fresno,  California. 


4  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT  STATION 

Sornay3  (p.  284)  says: 

"  It  is  a  first-class  fodder  plant  and  thrives  very  well.  It  is  sown  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  rains  and  its  stems  rapidly  cover  the  soil.  Cattle  eat  it  readily. 
Attempts  should  be  made  to  acclimatize  this  legume  in  various  sub-tropical 
countries. ' ' 

He  errs  in  stating  that  Lathy rus  tingitanus  l '  grows  wild  in  North 
America."    It  is  indigenous  to  Algeria. 


*   *f 


Courtesy  of  U.  S.  D.  A. 
Fig.  2. — The  roots  of  Tangier  pea  are  well  supplied  with  nodules. 


Mr.  W.  E.  Barker  of  Sequim,  Washington,  writes  that  on  January 
17,  1923,  he 

' '  grew  the  Tangier  pea  on  the  poorest  pieces  of  land  on  the  farm ;  land  that  had 
been  cropped  to  wheat  for  fifty  years.  It  grew  about  7  feet  high  and  made  an 
impenetrable  jungle.     We  harvested  with  a  mower.     I  think  this  year  I  will  try 


3  Sornay,  P.  de,  Green  manures  and  manuring  in  the  tropics.     English  trans- 
lation by  F.  W.  Flattely,  1916.) 


ClRC.  290]  THE  TANGIER  pEA  5 

tying  a  rope  to  the  end  of  the  sickle  bar  and  have  a  man  jerk  the  cut  stuff  away 
from  the  standing.  I  know  this  is  practised  with  a  heavy  vetch  crop.  I  will 
have  about  two  acres  in  this  year  and  I  know  of  another  acre  field  in  Oregon.  I 
gave  a  lot  of  seed  away  here  to  other  vetch  growers  and  there  should  be  quite  a 
quantity  grown  here  in  a  year  or  two.  It  does  not  shell  out  here  in  the  slightest, 
which  seems  to  be  the  main  trouble  in  Oregon.  The  air  here  at  harvest  time  is 
very  moist. ' ' 

Similar  reports  have  been  received  from  Alabama,  Oregon  and  Cali- 
fornia, so  that  it  would  seem  that  the  Tangier  pea  is  destined  to  find 
a  useful  place  as  a  green  manure  (fig.  1)  and  as  a  forage  crop  not 
only  in  California  but  throughout  a  wide  range  of  territory  in  the 
United  States  and  elsewhere.  As  a  spring  sown  crop  it  is  favorably 
mentioned  in  North  Dakota  and  Indiana. 


DESCRIPTION   OF   THE    PLANT 

The  Tangier  pea  (see  fig.  3)  is  an  annual  leguminous  plant  resem- 
bling in  a  general  way  the  ornamental  sweet  pea  of  the  gardens.  It 
is  a  strong  grower  with  numerous  large  nodules  on  its  roots  (fig.  2). 
The  plants  grow  from  3  to  7  feet  long  in  a  tangled  mass  (fig.  1),  pro- 
ducing a  dense  covering  on  the  ground  which  enables  it  to  choke  out 
weeds.  It  does  not  grow  during  the  cold  weather,  but  it  shows  the 
effects  of  frost  less  than  field  peas,  sweet  clovers,  vetches  and  other 
winter  legumes.  The  plant  is  smooth  throughout,  with  coarse  stems 
and  prominent  stipules.  The  leaves  consist  of  a  pair  of  large  leaflets 
and  a  much  branched  tendril  terminating  the  midrib  of  the  leaf. 
From  the  axils  arise  stalks  which  bear  2-3  flowered  clusters  of  bright 
scarlet  flowers  which  are  about  the  size  of  small  sweet  pea  blossoms. 
The  pods  are  about  S1/^  inches  long  and  contain  about  seven  seeds. 
The  seeds  (fig.  4)  are  brown,  elliptical,  somewhat  flattened  and  about 
i/4  of  an  inch  long.  The  hilum  or  scar  is  whitish  and  %  of  an  inch 
long. 

RELATED   SPECIES 

The  genus  Lathyrus  is  represented  by  about  100  species  occurring  chiefly  in 
the  northern  hemisphere  with  a  few  in  the  mountains  of  tropical  Africa  and 
some  in  South  America.  They  resemble  the  vetches  of  the  genus  Vicia  so  closely 
that  only  botanists  are  able  to  distinguish  one  from  the  other.  Those  that  every- 
one is  familiar  with  are  the  annual  ornamental  sweet  pea,  Lathyrus  odoratus  and 
the  perennial  everlasting  sweet  pea,  L.  latifolius  of  the  gardens. 

The  grass  pea,  Lathyrus  sativus,  known  also  as  Swiss  pea,  wedge  pea,  mission 
pea  and  chickling  vetch,  is  an  annual  plant  and  makes  an  excellent  winter  growth. 
It  is  less  subject  to  attack  by  aphis  than  the  vetches,  Vicia,  and  is  strongly  resist- 
ant to  the  pea  weevil.     It  is  recommended  for  use  in  Canada  in  districts  where 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT  STATION 


Courtesy  of  U.S.  D.  A. 


Fig.   3. — Upper  portion  of  Tangier  pea,  showing  leaves,  stipules,  flowers 

and  pods. 


Circ.  290] 


THE  TANGIER   PEA 


Fig.  4. — Seeds  of  the  Tangier  pea,  natural  size  and  enlarged  five  times. 


8  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT  STATION 

the  ordinary  field  pea,  Pisum,  cannot  be  grown  on  account  of  the  ravages  of  the 
pea  weevil.  The  leafage  makes  good  forage  and  the  seed  which  is  produced 
abundantly,  is  used  as  human  food  especially  in  the  Sudan,  Eoumania  and  other 
parts  of  Europe.  Mr.  A.  F.  Etters  of  Ettersburg,  Humboldt  County,  California, 
reports  a  yield  of  2600  pounds  of  seed  to  the  acre.  The  late  Mr.  L.  E.  Whiteside, 
of  Willow  Creek,  Humboldt  County,  states  in  a  letter  that  the  grass  pea  is  not 
bothered  with  pea  weevil,  that  it  is  good  hog  feed,  and  that  the  seed  does  not 
shatter  readily.  He  recommends  feeding  it  to  laying  hens  and  also  considers  it 
superior  to  any  dry  pea  for  human  food.  In  experiments  at  the  various  stations 
it  has  been  found  that  the  tonnage  of  green  material  to  the  acre  is  very  much 
less  than  that  of  the  Tangier  pea.  Seed  of  the  grass  pea  is  occasionally  offered 
for  sale  by  the  seedsmen  of  California. 

The  flat  pea,  Lathyrus  silvestris,  particularly  the  improved  strain,  Wagner's 
flat  pea,  is  a  perennial  offered  for  sale  by  seedsmen  in  Europe,  Canada  and  the 
eastern  United  States.  It  is  said  to  grow  successfully  on  poor  land,  even  if  sandy. 
Owing  to  its  deep  root  system,  it  is  very  resistant  to  drought.  The  crop  has 
been  recommended  for  pasture  and  for  hay.  It  has  a  high  nutritive  value,  but 
authorities  disagree  in  regard  to  its  palatability.  Trials  at  the  California  Experi- 
ment Station  for  many  years  have  not  been  sufficiently  promising  to  justify  its 
recommendation  as  a  crop  for  this  state. 

In  addition  to  the  above  mentioned,  twelve  other  exotic  species  of  Lathyrus 
have  been  grown  in  our  legume  experimental  gardens.  With  the  exceptions  of  the 
French  pea,  L.  clymenum,  and  the  ochrus  pea,  L.  ochrus,  none  of  them  have,  as 
yet,  given  sufficient  promise  in  the  preliminary  trials  to  be  considered  for  forage, 
green  manure  or  seed. 

In  California  there  are  at  least  a  dozen  indigenous  species,  some  of  which  are 
important  range  plants  and  others  ornamental.  The  most  interesting  is  what  is 
known  as  the  Pride  of  California,  Lathyrus  splendens,  with  large,  showy  deep 
rose  purple  flowers.  Traveling  on  the  highway  between  San  Diego  and  Imperial 
Valley  one  is  much  impressed  by  the  gorgeous  display  produced  by  this  plant  as 
it  climbs  through  and  over  the  chaparral. 

Another,  Torrey's  wild  pea,  Lathyrus  torreyi,  occurs  in  patches  in  the  Sierra 
Nevada  Mountains.  It  looks  not  unlike  alfalfa  and  has  creeping  rootstocks. 
Other  native  species  are  found  in  the  marshes,  by  the  sea  shore  and  on  the  banks 
in  partial  shade  on  the  coast  hills.  Everywhere  they  are  grazed  to  a  greater  or 
less  extent,  but  no  experiments  have  been  carried  on  to  determine  their  value 
under  cultivation. 

THE    SEED    CROP 

Tangier  peas  have  given  excellent  results  in  the  southern  United 
States  and  in  California  and  the  chief  objection  to  their  general 
introduction  as  a  forage  and  green  manure  crop  has  been  the  difficulty 
of  producing  the  seed  cheaply  enough  to  compete  with  the  vetches 
(Vicia). 

The  seed  shatters  (fig.  5)  readily  from  the  pods  when  mature  if 
exposed  to  the  hot  sun  in  an  arid  atmosphere.  This  difficulty  has 
been  very  largely  overcome  by  growing  the  crop  in  the  fog  belt  and 
harvesting  the  seed  when  the  pods  are  ripe,  but  moist  from  the  fog. 


Circ.  290] 


THE  TANGIER   PEA 


9 


Commercial  quantities  of  the  seed  are  now  available,  largely  through 
the  efforts  of  Mr.  P.  A.  Ingvason,  who  contracted  with  Mr.  J.  E. 
Phillips  to  grow  a  seed  crop  on  the  Molera  ranch,  2%  miles  from 
Castro ville,  Monterey  County,  California.  The  crop  was  grown  on 
bottom  land  near  the  ocean  on  which  sugar  beets  had  been  grown  for 
many  years. 


Fig.  5. — Pods  of  Tangier  pea  before  and  after  expulsion  of  the  seeds. 


For  seed  production  the  method  of  seeding  is  to  plant  the  seed  in 
rows  three  and  a  half  feet  apart  in  the  fall  after  the  first  rains.  The 
time  of  planting  will  vary  with  the  seasonal  variations,  but  is  usually 
in  November  or  December.  The  rate  of  seeding  is  about  25  pounds 
to  the  acre.  Owing  to  the  prevailing  cold  winds  from  the  ocean,  the 
growth  is  slow  until  spring,  when   it  makes   a   very   rapid   growth 


10  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT  STATION 

reaching  a  height  of  from  5  to  7  feet  by  the  end  of  July,  when  growth 
ceases.  At  this  time  the  vines  are  so  heavily  laden  with  pods  (fig.  6) 
throughout  their  length  that  a  settling  (fig.  7)  to  5  or  6  feet  in  height 
takes  place  and  the  vines  turn  brown  and  are  ready  for  harvest  from 
the  first  to  the  middle  of  August. 

HARVESTING    THE    SEED 

The  tangled  growth  is  so  large  and  dense  that  difficulties  are 
encountered  in  cutting  the  material  in  such  a  manner  as  to  be  readily 
available  for  threshing.  The  method  has  been  to  cut  the  material  at 
the  base  near  the  ground  with  a  mower  and  to  roll  the  cut  portion 
(fig.  8)  out  of  the  way  of  the  next  cut,  by  hand.  It  is  then  bunched 
and  hauled  to  the  thresher  (fig.  9).  The  atmosphere  during  the 
harvesting  process  should  be  quite  moist  so  as  to  reduce  the  shattering 
(fig.  5)  of  the  seed  to  a  minimum. 

A  method  sometimes  advocated  for  heavy  crops  of  vetch  is  to  tie 
a  rope  to  the  end  of  the  sickle  bar  and  have  a  man  jerk  the  cut 
material  away  from  the  standing.  No  doubt  other  methods  and 
machinery  could  be  devised  that  would  reduce  the  labor  cost  very 
considerably. 

No  trouble  is  encountered  in  separating  the  seed  from  the  pods 
and  straw  by  any  ordinary  bean  or  pea  threshing  machine  and  as 
there  are  no  weeds,  a  fine  quality  of  seed  is  produced  that  needs  little 
or  no  additional  cleaning.  One  ton  of  seed  to  the  acre  may  be  ex- 
pected and  two  or  more  tons  to  the  acre  have  been  produced.  The 
seed  weighs  60  pounds  to  the  bushel. 

There  is  every  reason  to  believe  that,  as  the  conditions  for  growing 
the  seed  exist  over  a  wide  area  on  the  coasts  of  California,  Oregon 
and  Washington,  the  Tangier  pea  will  soon  find  a  permanent  place 
in  American  agriculture. 

A  very  large  tonnage  of  straw  remains  after  threshing.  That  it 
is  valuable  as  a  fertilizer  may  be  gathered  from  the  following  analysis 
furnished  by  the  Division  of  Nutrition  of  the  College  of  Agriculture. 


Analysts  of  Tangier  Pea  Straw 

Moisture 

Protein                   Fat                       Ash                        Fiber 

N.F.E. 

10.00% 

6.42%             1.78%             10.64%             37.10% 

34.06% 

Average  of  Analyses  of  Sixteen  Kinds  of  Bean  Straw* 

Moisture  Protein  Fat  Ash  Fiber  N.E.F. 

11.07%  5.68%  1.52%  6.97%  41.10%  33.63% 


*  Hendry,  G.  W.,  et  al.,  Bean  culture  in  California.     California  Agr.  Exp.  Sta., 
Bull.  294:343,  1918. 


Circ.  290] 


THE  TANGIER   PEA 


11 


todfad 


/       --< 


Fig.  6. — A  dense  growth  of  Tangier  peas  six  feet  tall,  heavily  laden  with  pods 
and  ready  to  harvest.     All  weed  growth  has  been  effectually  smothered. 


Fig.  7. — A  mature  seed  crop  of  T; 


pea  ready  to  harvest.     Molera  Kanch, 


near  Castroville,  Monterey  County,  California. 


12  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT  STATION 

A  comparison  of  the  analyses  indicates  that  Tangier  pea  straw 
has  about  the  same  value  as  an  organic  fertilizer  as  the  average  bean 
straw  now  utilized  in  the  orchards  of  southern  California.  As  the 
Tangier  pea  can  be  grown  for  seed  on  the  same  land  now  growing 
commercial  crops  of  sugar  beets,  potatoes,  mustard  seed  and  other 
crops,  it  would  seem  advisable  to  spread  the  straw  on  the  land  where 
it  is  grown,  and  plow  it  under  as  a  fertilizer.  It  might  also  be  found 
valuable  in  the  orchards  of  the  Santa  Clara  Valley  and  other  fruit 
sections  in  the  vicinity. 

THE  TANGIER    PEA    FOR   GREEN    MANURE 

The  large  and  abundant  nodules  (fig.  2)  on  the  roots  of  the  Tan- 
gier pea  make  it  an  excellent  nitrogen  gatherer.  Its  ability  to  with- 
stand cold  and  frost  without  permanent  injury  is  also  in  its  favor 
as  a  winter  grower. 

The  chief  aim  in  growing  a  green  manure  crop  is  to  produce  as 
large  a  tonnage  as  possible  of  green  material,  preferably  of  a  legumin- 
ous crop,  that  can  be  plowed  under  and  incorporated  with  the  soil. 
Tangier  peas  produce  a  heavy  tonnage.  Mertz0  shows  that  a  five  year 
average  tonnage  on  light  sandy  loam  under  irrigation  at  the  Rubidoux 
Experiment  Farm,  Riverside,  California,  was  13.7  tons  to  the  acre, 
the  same  as  that  of  bitter  clover  (Melilotus  indica).  The  only  legume 
producing  a  greater  tonnage  was  purple  vetch  (Vicia  atropurpurea) 
with  20  tons  to  the  acre,  but  this  was  for  a  two-year  period  only,  and 
therefore  not  strictly  comparable.  The  average  of  nine  different 
kinds  of  legumes  was  13.0  tons  to  the  acre. 

The  question  of  whether  this  or  that  legume  is  the  ''best"  can  be 
determined  only  by  a  series  of  experiments  over  a  long  period  of 
years.  No  single  legume  gives  equally  good  results  every  year  in  a 
given  district.  One  year  the  small  seeded  horse  bean  will  make  a  four 
foot  growth  by  January  first,  and  the  next  year  only  a  foot  of  growth 
will  be  produced  because  of  the  ravages  of  aphis.  Bitter  clover  makes 
a  very  poor  growth  in  cool,  dry  winters,  as  in  the  season  of  1924-25, 
when  it  was  only  four  inches  high  by  the  middle  of  January.  Purple 
vetch  is  one  of  the  best  of  the  new  legumes,  but  it  is  severely  attacked 
by  aphis  in  certain  seasons. 

Another  feature  not  sufficiently  considered  in  the  growing  of  crops 
in  general  is  that  nearly  all  crops  are  subject  to  certain  diseases  and 
insect  pests  so  that  by  changing  the  host  plant  the  breeding  grounds 
are  frequently  interfered  with. 


g  Mertz,  W.  M.,  Green  manure  crops  in  southern  California.     California  Agr. 
Exp.  Sta.,  Bull.  292:10,  tab.  2,  1918. 


CiRC.  290] 


THE   TANGIER    PEA 


13 


Fig.  8. — A  field  of  Tangier  peas  being  harvested  for  seed  on  Molera  Ranch, 
near  Castroville,  Monterey  County,  California. 


I 


•*M^j*»  .* 


Fig.  9. — A  seed  crop  of  Tangier  peas  bunched  and  ready   to  haul  to  the 
thresher,  Molera  Ranch,  near  Castroville,  Monterey  County,  California. 


14  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT  STATION 

All  of  the  above  mentioned  legumes  will  make  a  satisfactory  green 
manure  crop  in  certain  seasons,  but  the  same  legume  will  in  no  case 
make  the  most  satisfactory  crop  every  year.  It  is  safest,  therefore, 
to  rotate  the  best  known  leguminous  green  manure  crops  for  a  ten- 
year  period.     The  following  is  a  suggestion  for  a  ten-year  rotation: 

Bitter  clover  (Melilotus  indica),  two  years. 

Purple  vetch  (Vicia  atropurpurea) ,  two  years. 

Tangier  pea  (Lathy rus  tingitanus) ,  two  years. 

Small  seeded  horse  bean  (Vicia  fab  a  var.  minor),  two  years. 

Fenugreek  (Trigonella  foenum  graecum),  two  years. 

It  may  be  found  after  further  experimentation  that  in  certain 
districts  one  or  more  of  these  legumes  may  be  supplanted  in  the  rota- 
tion by  other  varieties.  Some  very  promising  winter  growing  legumes 
now  under  experiment  are  the  spurred  vetch  (Vicia  calcarata) ,  the 
one  flowered  vetch  (Vicia  monanthos) ,  and  species  of  lupines.  It 
seems  probable  that  when  a  more  complete  knowledge  of  the  growth 
requirements  for  each  legume  is  available  that  a  definite  mixture  of 
seed  of  a  number  of  different  legumes  will  be  found  to  produce  the 
largest  average  tonnage  of  green  stuff  to  plow  under  over  a  period 
of  years,  and  make  it  practically  certain  that  a  good  cover  crop  will 
be  produced  every  year,  notwithstanding  the  seasonal  variations. 

In  the  early  experiments  of  the  California  Experiment  Station 
on  small  trial  plots  from  1900  to  1905,  with  irrigation,  a  yield  esti- 
mated at  from  17  to  19  tons  of  green  tops  to  the  acre  was  produced 
by  April  20  from  October  seeding  in  southern  California.  Without 
irrigation  and  with  a  rainfall  of  less  than  10  inches  the  results  were 
not  promising  and  in  very  dry  years  the  crop  was  a  complete  failure. 
One  instance  is  recorded  from  Redlands  where,  on  red  clay  loam  with 
the  seed  broadcasted  between  the  rows  of  an  orange  orchard  on  Octo- 
ber 7,  1905,  and  with  ample  irrigation,  an  estimated  yield  of  35  tons 
to  the  acre  of  green  stuff  is  reported  by  April  4,  1906. 

THE  TANGIER   PEA  AS   A   FORAGE   PLANT 

The  experiments  that  have  been  conducted  with  the  Tangier  pea 
have  been  mainly  in  regard  to  its  use  as  a  green  manure.  Yet  it  is 
highly  regarded  by  Trabut  in  Algeria  and  by  some  of  the  experiment 
stations  in  the  United  States  as  a  forage  plant.  The  leafage  is  both 
palatable  and  nutritious  and  no  deleterious  effects  have  been  recorded 
from  feeding  it  to  livestock.    At  Vacaville,  Solano  County,  California, 


CIRC.  290]  THE  TANGIER   PEA  15 

on  alluvial  deposit  soil  verging  on  adobe,  without  irrigation,  an  esti- 
mated yield  of  three  tons  of  hay  to  the  acre  was  obtained.  The  seed 
was  planted  on  November  17  and  harvested  May  1.  It  received  a 
seasonal  rainfall  of  17.29  inches  with  a  minimum  temperature  of 
30  degrees  F. 

At  San  Lorenzo,  Alameda  County,  California,  on  alluvial  deposit 
soil,  from  seed  sown  October  30  and  grown  without  irrigation  a 
growth  five  feet  in  height  was  obtained  by  April  23.  The  tempera- 
ture dropped  to  26°  F.  in  February,  but  the  crop  was  only  slightly 
injured,  and  later  recovered.  Under  especially  favorable  circum- 
stances estimated  yields  of  as  high  as  nine  tons  to  the  acre  have  been 
reported  in  California.  As  it  has  been  shown  that  a  dense  crop  seven 
feet  in  height  can  be  grown  wuthout  irrigation  and  under  field  con- 
ditions, it  is  plain  that  the  Tangier  pea  should  be  given  a  thorough 
and  extended  trial  for  forage  purposes  in  all  the  coast  counties  of 
California  from  the  Monterey  Bay  region  (frontispiece)  north  to  the 
Oregon  boundary  line. 


20ro-6,*25 


